Decode Genetics
Encyclopedia
deCODE genetics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company based in Reykjavík
, Iceland
. The company was founded in 1996 to identify human genes associated with common diseases using population studies, and apply the knowledge gained to guide the development of candidate drugs. So far the company has isolated genes believed to be involved in cardiovascular disease, cancer
and schizophrenia
, among other diseases (the company's research concerning the latter is said to represent the first time a gene has been identified by two independent studies to be associated with schizophrenia ).
deCODE's approach to identifying genes, and in particular its attempt to set up an Icelandic Health Sector Database (HSD) containing the medical records and genealogical and genetic data of all Icelanders, has been very controversial, and prompted national and international criticism for its approach to the concepts of privacy
and consent
http://econpapers.repec.org/article/tprinntgg/v_3A1_3Ay_3A2006_3Ai_3A2_3Ap_3A80-105.htm A legal judgement from the Icelandic Supreme Court
in November 2003 effectively killed off the HSD project http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrb/script-ed/issue2/iceland.asp. However, the company believes it can continue to identify disease-related genes without such a database
The company was removed from the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index, effective with the market open on Monday, November 24, 2008
On November 2009 a press release announced that the company had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in a US court, listing total assets of $69.9 million and a debt of $313.9 million. According to the American law deCODE will continue its operations.
, the company has announced that its deCODEme service is available for $985 to anyone who wishes to send a cheek
swab
to learn details about disease risk and ancestry. This service was launched in November 2007 and thereby became the first web-based service to offer a comprehensive genome scan and an online analysis of an individual's DNA
. More than one million single nucleotide polymorphism
s are included in the scan http://www.snpedia.com/index.php?title=DeCODEmehttp://www.illumina.com/media.ilmn?Title=human1m-duo%20beadchip%20content&Img=prodservhuman1MDuoContentLr.gif&Cap=&PageName=human1M-duo%20beadchip&PageURL=261. deCODEme claims that the DNA profile it provides can supply its customers with a basis from which they are able calculate the relative risk of developing these diseases and thereby enable them to make better informed decisions about prevention (medical) and treatment. The deCODEme service currently includes information on the genetic susceptibility to close to 45 common diseases such as myocardial infarction
, atrial fibrillation
, several types of cancers and type-2 diabetes as well as providing insights into distant ancestry
and geographical origins.
The same SEC filing indicates that deCODE is involved in a lawsuit against former employees for computer fraud and disclosure of confidential information.
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
. The company was founded in 1996 to identify human genes associated with common diseases using population studies, and apply the knowledge gained to guide the development of candidate drugs. So far the company has isolated genes believed to be involved in cardiovascular disease, cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, among other diseases (the company's research concerning the latter is said to represent the first time a gene has been identified by two independent studies to be associated with schizophrenia ).
deCODE's approach to identifying genes, and in particular its attempt to set up an Icelandic Health Sector Database (HSD) containing the medical records and genealogical and genetic data of all Icelanders, has been very controversial, and prompted national and international criticism for its approach to the concepts of privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
and consent
Consent
Consent refers to the provision of approval or agreement, particularly and especially after thoughtful consideration.- Types of consent :*Implied consent is a controversial form of consent which is not expressly granted by a person, but rather inferred from a person's actions and the facts and...
http://econpapers.repec.org/article/tprinntgg/v_3A1_3Ay_3A2006_3Ai_3A2_3Ap_3A80-105.htm A legal judgement from the Icelandic Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Iceland
The Supreme Court of Iceland holds the highest judicial power in Iceland. It is the oldest court of law in Iceland and the higher of the two court branches, while the District Courts of Iceland are the lower. Nine judges sit in the court and hold command over the President of Iceland in accordance...
in November 2003 effectively killed off the HSD project http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrb/script-ed/issue2/iceland.asp. However, the company believes it can continue to identify disease-related genes without such a database
The company was removed from the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index, effective with the market open on Monday, November 24, 2008
On November 2009 a press release announced that the company had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in a US court, listing total assets of $69.9 million and a debt of $313.9 million. According to the American law deCODE will continue its operations.
deCODEme
As a step toward the personal genomePersonal genomics
Personal genomics is the branch of genomics concerned with the sequencing and analysis of the genome of an individual. The genotyping stage employs different techniques, including single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis chips , or partial or full genome sequencing...
, the company has announced that its deCODEme service is available for $985 to anyone who wishes to send a cheek
Cheek
Cheeks constitute the area of the face below the eyes and between the nose and the left or right ear. They may also be referred to as jowls. "Buccal" means relating to the cheek. In humans, the region is innervated by the buccal nerve...
swab
Cotton swab
Cotton swabs or cotton buds or ear buds consist of a small wad of cotton wrapped around one or both ends of a short rod, usually made of either wood, rolled paper, or plastic...
to learn details about disease risk and ancestry. This service was launched in November 2007 and thereby became the first web-based service to offer a comprehensive genome scan and an online analysis of an individual's DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
. More than one million single nucleotide polymorphism
Single nucleotide polymorphism
A single-nucleotide polymorphism is a DNA sequence variation occurring when a single nucleotide — A, T, C or G — in the genome differs between members of a biological species or paired chromosomes in an individual...
s are included in the scan http://www.snpedia.com/index.php?title=DeCODEmehttp://www.illumina.com/media.ilmn?Title=human1m-duo%20beadchip%20content&Img=prodservhuman1MDuoContentLr.gif&Cap=&PageName=human1M-duo%20beadchip&PageURL=261. deCODEme claims that the DNA profile it provides can supply its customers with a basis from which they are able calculate the relative risk of developing these diseases and thereby enable them to make better informed decisions about prevention (medical) and treatment. The deCODEme service currently includes information on the genetic susceptibility to close to 45 common diseases such as myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia . It is a common cause of irregular heart beat, identified clinically by taking a pulse. Chaotic electrical activity in the two upper chambers of the heart result in the muscle fibrillating , instead of achieving coordinated contraction...
, several types of cancers and type-2 diabetes as well as providing insights into distant ancestry
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
and geographical origins.
SEC filing
deCODE's 2006 10-K SEC filing reveals that their net losses to date are in excess of 530 million dollars, and that they have never turned a profit:
If we continue to incur operating losses longer than anticipated, or in amounts greater than anticipated, we may be unable to continue our operations.
We incurred a net loss of $85.5 million, $62.8 million and $57.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005 and 2004, respectively, and had an accumulated deficit of $535.7 million at December 31, 2006. We have never generated a profit and we have not generated revenues except for payments received in connection with our research and development collaborations with Roche, Merck and others, from contract services, from sales of Emerald BioSystems products and instruments, and grant funding. Our research and development expenditures and selling, general and administrative costs have exceeded our revenue to date, and we expect to spend significant additional amounts to fund research and development in order to enhance our core technologies and undertake product development (including drug development and related clinical trials). We do not expect to receive royalties or other revenues from commercial sales of products developed using our technology in the near term. It may be several years before product revenues materialize, if they do at all. As a result, we expect to incur net losses for several years. If the time required to generate product revenues and achieve profitability is longer than we currently anticipate, or if the level of losses is greater than we currently anticipate, we may not be able to continue our operations.
The same SEC filing indicates that deCODE is involved in a lawsuit against former employees for computer fraud and disclosure of confidential information.
If we are not successful in our pending litigation regarding misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of related non-competition, non-solicitation and non-disclosure agreements, our ability to protect our confidential information and to enforce non-competition and non-solicitation agreements against former employees may be impaired, which could adversely affect our business and prospects.
On August 4, 2006 we commenced an action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against five former employees for misappropriation of our trade secrets and intellectual property, related breach of non-competition, non-solicitation, and non-disclosure provisions of their employment agreements, and violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in connection with their employment by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). It is possible that a judgment against us with respect to our allegations of trade secret misappropriation may negatively affect our ability to protect some of what we consider to be our confidential information under the law of trade secrets. Also, it is possible that a judgment against us with respect to the non-competition, non-solicitation, or non-disclosure agreements with the individual defendants (1) would allow the defendants to engage in competition with us, (2) may cause other current or former employees to test the validity of their non-competition, non-solicitation, and non-disclosure agreements when they might otherwise have refrained from doing so, or (3) may cause other institutions besides CHOP to hire our current or former employees when they might otherwise have refrained from doing so. Any of these events could impair our ability to compete for collaborative arrangements, for access to DNA samples or for product or technology licensing arrangements and ultimately could adversely affect our ability to develop and market products.
See also
- GenomicsGenomicsGenomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...
- Kári StefánssonKári StefánssonDr. Kári Stefánsson, is an Icelandic neurologist, who is currently the President, Chairman, CEO and co-founder of deCODE Genetics.He was born in 1949 in Iceland-Education and early career:...
(co-founder and CEO of deCODE) - 23andMe23andMe23andMe is a privately held personal genomics and biotechnology company based in Mountain View, California that is developing new methods and technologies that will enable consumers to understand their own genetic information...
, a company offering a service similar to deCODEme - NavigenicsNavigenicsNavigenics, Inc. is a privately held personal genomics company, based in Foster City, California, that uses genetic testing to help people determine their individual risk for dozens of health conditions....
, a company offering a service similar to deCODEme - DNA TribesDNA TribesDNA Tribes is a personal genomics and biotechnology company based in Arlington, Virginia that allows individuals to have their genetic ancestry analyzed based on autosomal STR genetic markers developed by the FBI for individual identification in a forensic context...
, a company offering a service similar to deCODEme for genetic ancestry - Genomic counselingGenomic counselingGenomic counseling is the process by which a person gets informed about his or her genome. In contrast to genetic counseling, which focuses on Mendelian diseases and typically involves person-to-person communication with a medical genetics expert, genomic counseling is not limited to currently...
External links
- deCODE Genetics Inc. website
- deCODE Diagnostics
- deCODEme website
- deCODEyou blogsite
- 'The World's Most Successful Failure', NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, 12 February 2010